Method of forming a structural unit



March 1, 1966 C STARK 3,238,278

METHOD OF FORMING A STRUCTURAL UNIT Original Filed Jan. 15, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. CHARLES H STA Fig.2 BY

JLMMQ.MLQM uifildm'mk March 1, 1966 c, STARK 3,238,278

METHOD OF FORMING A STRUCTURAL UNIT Original Filed Jan. 15, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 'i 52 2,0 A I 32- INVENTOR. 4 cumms H STARK Fl q BY Sclwfm-k March 1 1966 c. H. STARK 3,233,278

METHOD OF FORMING A STRUCTURAL UNIT Original Filed Jan. 15, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. F, 5 CHARLES H. STARK F Sckodok United States Patent 3,238,278 METHOD OF FORMING A STRUCTURAL UNIT Charles H. Stark, Waterville, Ohio, assignor to Owens- Illinois Glass Company, a corporation of Ohio Original application Jan. 15, 1962, Ser. No. 166,087. Divided and this application Aug. 17, 1964, Ser. No.

3 Claims. (Cl. 26434) This application is a division of my copending application Serial No. 166,087, filed January 15, 1962.

This invention relates to a method of forming a structural unit. More particularly, this invention relates to a method of forming a structural fi-oor unit. In conventional building practice, floors on larger commercial buildings are formed by erecting temporary flooring, placing a number of inverted steel pans on this flooring and arranging the pans to define a network of channels, and pouring concrete into the channels and to the desired height above the pans. The concrete poured between the channels forms a network of interconnected beams whichiare designed to supply the desired structural strength. The concrete poured on top on the steel pans forms a plane floor slab. Reinforcing bars and mesh can be placed in the channels and above the pans in the locations desired before the concrete is poured. After the concrete has hardened, the temporary flooring and pans are removed leaving a permanent floor comprising a network of beams underlying and integral with a plane slab. The undersurface of the floor has a waffle-like appearance.

This conventional type of floor unit is finished on the undersurface by a suspended ceiling. The suspended ceiling is necessary to provide an air space between the ceiling and the beams to accommodate air plenums or ducts, lighting fixtures, and the like. The top surface of the permanent floor is finished by placing on the floor a network of shallow steel pans which define or form raceways for telephone and electrical wiring, and then pouring a final layer of concrete over the shallow steel pans to form a plane surface.

This invention is directed to a method of forming a structural floor unit which retains the structural features and advantages of a network of interconnected beams, and which also includes a floor panel or slab that has a series of interconnected voids contiguous with its undersurface, these voids providing an air space for air plenums, ducts, electrical wiring and the like. The interconnected voids of the structure of this invention allow the elimination of the conventionalsuspended ceiling on the undersurface and the poured raceways on the top surface of the conventional floor,.thereby permitting substantial economic savings both in initial construction costs and also subsequent installation expenses. A structural unit is formed by the novel method of this invention which permits in situ construction while the temporary flooring is still in place, and allows the floor unit to be constructed in a continuous series of steps thereby saving construction time and labor expenses.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein is set forth, by way of illustration and example, the preferred embodiment of this invention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view, partly broken away, showing a structural unit produced by the method of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken through the center of the structure of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the first void forms arranged on a plane surface and a portion of the initial layer of concrete in place.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view, partly broken away, showing the structural unit produced by the method of this invention, after the second layer of concrete has been poured;

FIG. 5 isa perspective view showing the first void form of .this invention; and

FIG. 6. is a perspective view showing the second void form of this invention.

A structural unit is produced by themethod of this invention by using two separate void forms. These forms are load bearing bodies that serve to create the desired voids in the ultimate structure. The preferred type of void form is formed from paperboard, such. as corrugated paperboard.

Referring to FIG. 5, the first void form 1 0 is a parallelepiped having parallel top and bottom surfaces and four vertical side walls. The preferred first void form is formed froma sheet of corrugated paperboard which is scored and slotted to form what is commonly referred to as a regular slotted container, i.e., four side wall panels 11 foldably connected together to form a closed configuration, and top and bottom closure flaps 12 foldably connected to the end edges of the side walls. The closure flaps cooperate to span and close the opening defined by the side walls. The interior of the first void form is reinforced by a series of stacked partition grids G. The

partition grids comprise strips of corrugated paperboard that are transversely slotted at uniform intervals along their lengths and then telescoped together to form a gridlike configuration. These partition grids are well known in the art and are commonly used to form cells to keep articles separate within a container. The partition grids G are stacked vertically within the void form 10 and are separated from each other by pads 13. The stacked partition grids G extend from the bottom closure flaps to the top closure flaps.

After the first void form 10 is assembled, the closure flaps are taped closed by pressure sensitive tape T. The exposed edges of the paperboard are also taped to prevent moisture from the concrete from penetrating the paperboard. Preferably the exterior surface of the paperboard is coated with a thin film of polyethylene to provide a water resistant surface.

Referring to FIG. 6, the second load bearing void form 20 is a parallelepiped having parallel top and bottomsurfaces and eight vertical side walls. The second void form is preferably formed of corrugated paperboardwhich has been coated on its exterior surface with a thin film of polyethylene. The second void form comprises eight side wall panels 21 and 21a which are foldably connected together to form a closed octagonal configuration. Closure flaps 22 are foldably secured to the end edges of the side walls. The closure flaps are contoured and arranged so that each defines and spans one-half of the opening defined by the side Walls. Partition grids G of the same type as described in conjunction with the first void form 10 are stacked in the interior ofthe second void form and separated from each other by die-cut pads 23. The closure flaps of a second void form 20 are sealed by means of pressure sensitive tape T. The exposed edges of paperboard are also sealed by the pressure sensitive tape T.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, in the practice of the method of this invention, temporary flooring 30, such as plywood sheets, is erected in a conventional manner to form a plane surface. The perimeter of the temporary flooring 30 is enclosed by conventional vertical side walls (not shown) which define the limits of the floor. The void forms 10 are arranged on the flooring 30 and secured thereto in uniform spaced apart relation so as to define a network of interconnected open channels 31. The void forms 11 can be adhesively secured to the temporary flooring 30; or can, in what is the preferred manner, be erected on the flooring; stapled through the bottom closure flaps thereto, have the partition grids G stacked therein, and then have the closure flaps and exposed edges sealed with adhesive tape.

After the first void forms are in place on the temporary flooring 30, whatever reinforcing bars which may be necessary can be placed and arranged in the channels 31 defined by the first forms. An initial layer of concrete is then poured into the channels to a height substantially equal to the height of the first void forms It The network of interconnected beams 32 formed by this first layer of concrete provide the main structural members for the floor and give it its load bearing capacity.

After the first layer of concrete has been poured, the second void forms are placed on and centered relative to the first void forms 10. The second void forms 20 are arranged so that four of their vertical side Walls 21 are parallel to the side walls 11 of the first void form. The second void forms are made substantially larger so that they extend laterally beyond the first void forms into contiguous relation with each other thereby serving to completely enclose and cover the top surface of the first void forms and the top surface of the beams 31, except at their respective points of juncture 33. At the points where the beams meet, i.e., the junctures of the interconnected beams, the remaining side walls 21a of the second void forms 20 abut to form an axially extending opening 34. See FIG. 4. The second void forms are arranged in the above described positions and are adhesively secured to their respective first void forms. Contiguous edges of adjacent second void forms 20 can be taped together if desired to provide a continous surface.

After the second void forms 20 are in place, the second layer of concrete is poured. This second layer of concrete extends into the axially extending openings 34 to form columns 35 therein. The second layer of concrete is also poured to the desired height above the top surface of the second void forms to form a continuous plane slab 36. The columns 35 extend from the juncture 33 of the beam to the slab 36 and support the slab in parallel spaced relation above the beams 33.

After both layers have hardened and cured, the temporary flooring is removed in the conventional manner. The first void forms 10 are pulled free and the second void forms are demolished and then removed. The resulting structure is perspectively shown in FIG. 1, and comprises a series of interconnected beams 32 arranged in a grid-like configuration. The beams have extending from their points of juncture 33 columns or pillars 35 which support in spaced apart relation from the beams a plane slab or floor 36. The space existing between the slab and the beams, which comprises a series of interconnected voids, permits the installation of air plenums or ducts, lighting fixtures, electrical or telephone Wiring, and the like, Without the use of the conventional suspended ceiling or without the necessity of pouring raeeways on the upper surface of the floor slab. Holes may be bored in the slab 36 to provide communication between the voids and the top surface of the slab. A ceiling may be applied directly to the undersurface of the beams.

It is to be understood that only the preferred embodiment of this invention has been described herein. Various obvious modifications may be resorted to to suit particular installations. For example, the first void forms may be cylindrical, elliptical, or any other solid body form which can be arranged to provide a network of interconnected channels. The second void forms may also be varied in shape. The essential purpose of the second void forms is to provide a covering for the first void forms and to cover the beams formed by pouring the first layer of concrete, leaving exposed only those are-as in which it is desirable to form columns to support the plane slab.

It will, of course, be understood that various details of construction may be modified through a Wide range without departing from the principles of this invention, and it is not, therefore, the purpose to limit the patent granted hereon otherwse than necessitated by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. The method of forming a structural unit, which comprises, forming a mold defining a network of interconnected channels by arranging on a plane surface a plurality of load bearing first void forms in spaced apart relation, casting a first layer of hardenable cementitious material into said mold to form a grid-like structure, covering said grid-like structure and first forms, except at predetermined areas in alignment with said grid-like structure, by arranging on said grid-like structure and first forms a plurality of load bearing second void forms, and casting a second layer of hardenable cementitious material on said second void forms to form a plane slab on said second void forms, said second layer extending between said second void forms in said predetermined areas to form columns between said beams and slab at said areas.

2. Method of forming a structural unit, which comprises, forrning a mold defining a network of interconnected channels by arranging on a plane surface a plurality of load bearing void forms in spaced apart relation, pouring a first layer of hardenable cementitious material into said mold to form a grid-like structure of interconnected beams, covering said void forms and beams except at the interconnections of said beams by arranging on said beams and said void forms a plurality of second v-oid forms, and pouring a second layer of hardenable cementitious material on said second void forms to form a plane slab on said second void forms, said second layer of material extending to said beams at said uncovered areas to form columns extending from said plane slab to the interconnections of said beams.

3. A method of forming a structural member which comprises, arranging a series of first parallelepipeds having four vertical side walls in spaced apart parallel relation on a plane surface, the sides of said parallelepipeds defining a grid-like network, pouring a hardenable cementitious material between said parallelepipeds and to the height of said parallelepipeds to form a grid-like cementitious structure, placing a second parallelepiped having eight vertical side Walls on each of said four-sided parallelepipeds, said second parallelepipeds extending laterally beyond said first parallelepipeds into contiguous relation with each other in cover said grid-like structure in the areas parallel to the side walls ofsaid first parallelepiped, the remaining side Walls of said second parallelepiped defining vertical openings centered above the junctures of said grid-like structure, and pouring a second layer of hardenable cementitious material on said second parallelepipeds to a vertical height above said second parallele'pipeds to form a structural cementitious slab above said second parallelepiped, said second layer filling said vertical openings to form structural columns between said grid-like structure and said slab.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,597,163 8/1926 Krump "264-34- 2,101,019 12/1937 Bowes 25l3l.5 2,602,323 7/1952 Leemhuis 50263 XR 2,867,886 1/1959 Benson 251 18 2,916,909 12/1959 Miller 2513l.5 XR

ALEXANDER H. BRODMERKEL, Primary Examiner, ROBERT F. WHITE, Examiner. 

1. THE METHOD OF FORMING A STRUCTURAL UNIT, WHICH COMPRISES, FORMING A MOLD DEFINING A NETWORK OF INTERCONNECTED CHANNELS BY ARRANGING ON A PLANE SURFACE A PLURALITY OF LOAD BEARING FIRST VOID FORMS IN SPACED APART RELATION, CASTING A FIRST LAYER OF HARDENABLE CEMENTITIOUS MATERIAL INTO SAID MOLD TO FORM A GRID-LIKE STRUCTURE, COVERING SAID GRID-LIKE STRUCTURE AND FIRST FORMS, EXCEPT AT PREDETERMINED AREAS IN ALIGNMENT WITH SAID GRID-LIKE STRUCTURE, BY ARRANGING ON SAID GRID-LIKE STRUCTURE AND FIRST FORMS A PLURALITY OF LOAD BEARING SECOND VOID FORMS, AND CASTING A SECOND LAYER OF HARDENABLE CEMENTITIOUS MATERIAL ON SAID SECOND VOID FORMS TO FORM A PLANE SLAB ON SAID SECOND VOID FORMS, SAID SECOND LAYER EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID SECOND VOID FORMS IN SAID PREDETERMINED AREAS TO FORM COLUMNS BETWEEN SAID BEAMS AND SLAB AT SAID AREAS. 